Osprey onsite in October thrills visitors

An osprey has been seen regularly onsite at WWT Arundel Wetland for a full month.

First recorded by WWT staff on Sept 18, the osprey has been spotted most days fishing onsite or carrying fish back from the nearby to eat will perching up in the trees on the Offham hangar. The osprey is also taking advantage of the abundant fish onsite that includes roach, rudd, tench, bream, carp and sticklebacks.  The osprey is likely onsite to fuel up for migration to warmer climes to winter in west Africa. This photo (above) of the osprey skimming the water was taken last week by Steve Woodward. 

Osprey will hang about for a few days or a few weeks on the autumn passage. We do usually see osprey in the autumn but we have never recorded one stay on such extended visit to WWT Arundel before. 

This highly specialised raptor is unusual, not only for eating a diet of fish, but also for its habit of plunging into the water to catch them. With its long, buoyant wings, a hunting osprey glides and scans the water below for food near the surface and often hovers with heavy wingbeats when it has located prey. It then tilts and dives at an angle, splashing into the water, talons first. Its talons are specially adapted with spikes and long claws to hold the slippery, struggling fish. The osprey carries large catches below its body, to a perch where they can be eaten at leisure. Osprey need 1-4 catches of fish a day to survive.

Regular Visitor Mike Jerome managed to capture this fishing technique earlier this month in series of stunning shots we shared on our Social Media pages. 

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